KI25

Shencang

Star

神藏 (Shéncáng) — Spirit Storehouse

Kidney channel · point 25

Not yet clinically reviewed

Traditionally used for

Cough & breathing
Digestion
Mood & calm
Heart & circulation

Cautions & contraindications

No deep needling

Location

On the chest, in the second intercostal space, 2 cun lateral to the anterior midline.

How to locate: With the patient supine, find the sternal angle, where the second rib joins the sternum, and slide just below the rib into the second intercostal space; the point is 2 cun lateral to the midline, halfway to the midclavicular line.

Regional anatomy: Beneath the skin and subcutaneous tissue the needle passes through pectoralis major and the external and internal intercostal muscles, stopping short of the endothoracic fascia; the pleura and lung lie directly beneath.

Distances are in cun, a proportional unit — how to measure.

Body map, front: KI25 · Chest — Fig. — KI25 · Chest After Albinus, 1747

The thorax, from in front — Gray's Anatomy plate — The thorax, from in front Gray's Anatomy, 1918

3D view

3D view not available for this point: its position on the 3D model couldn't be checked against its location text, so it is not shown. The 2D maps above show it.

The lung is not drawn: the anatomical model used here does not include it as a surface. This is a limit of the model, not of the anatomy. The pneumothorax risk above still applies.

Needling

Cited needling

⚠ Pneumothorax

Transverse-oblique insertion — directed laterally along the intercostal space

Depth 0.5–1 cun

skindeeper

Reported mean safe needling depth, mm — Taiwanese adults (CT)

	Underweight	Normal	Overweight
Men	12.6	20.0	25.9
Women	15.3	22.9	26.9

CT-measured mean safe needling depths from Taiwanese adults, by sex and body size (Lin et al. 2013); population-specific and a guide only — adjust to the patient in front of you.

Depths describe average adult habitus in the cited population, never a single safe number for the patient in front of you. Palpate and adjust.

Sources (3)

Lin JG, Chou PC, Chu HY. An exploration of the needling depth in acupuncture: the safe needling depth and the needling depth of clinical efficacy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:740508 — Tables 7 (male) and 8 (female), chest acupoints Supports: safe depth (measured)
World Health Organization. Guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. Geneva: WHO; 1999. WHO/EDM/TRM/99.1 — Section II §5.2 (Lung and pleura), p. 25 Supports: pneumothorax (names this region)
Deadman P, Al-Khafaji M, Baker K. A Manual of Acupuncture. Hove: Journal of Chinese Medicine Publications; 1998 — p. 361 Supports: techniques (names this point)

Site notes · not cited

No deep needling

Depth: 0.3–0.5 cun

Angle: Oblique or transverse

⚠ Cautions: Pneumothorax risk on deep perpendicular insertion.

Functions

Regulates Lung qi, descends rebellious qi and unbinds the chest
Calms the spirit

Indications

Cough and asthmachest painvomitingpoor appetiteanxiety

Combinations Using This Point

Shencang and Xuanji

KI25 and CV21 on the upper chest — a pairing to open the chest, regulate qi and quieten cough and wheezing.

Sources

World Health Organization. WHO Standard Acupuncture Point Locations in the Western Pacific Region. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, 2008. (Location.)
Focks C, ed. Atlas of Acupuncture. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2008. (Locating method and actions.)

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